


A Kindness

by beaubete



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Animal Abuse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-12
Updated: 2012-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-16 15:18:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2274630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beaubete/pseuds/beaubete
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor receives a gift, and Loki performs a kindness.  Loosely inspired by a similar scene in Revolutionary Girl Utena.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Kindness

The water swirled and churned around the box, soaking through the thick paper until it was dark and waterlogged and heavy. Loki was idly poking it with a stick when Thor came upon him, but he turned, eyes bright when he recognized his brother. Unease churned in Thor’s gut; Loki’s attention was sharp, piercing enough to draw blood when it was all focused on him.   
  
"Where have you been?" Thor asked him. Loki smiled wide, grateful for the attention. "Mother would speak with you before dinner. She wishes to know why you have injured the Lady Sif.  
  
"I wish to know, as well," Thor added. Loki’s face fell.  
  
"It was a joke. She should not have moved," he said sullenly, picking up the stick. "I would have only cut her hair if she had not moved. And she will heal, besides; Mother ought not worry for her." He drew runes in the mud with the stick.  
  
"You ought not have been cutting her hair," Thor reminded him, frowning.  
  
"It was a joke," Loki insisted stridently. He stabbed at the mostly submerged box viciously, and it made a pathetic sound. Thor watched, horrified, as the box split, spilling sodden balls of fur into the fierce current. Three were dead already, and the fourth mewled weakly before succumbing even as Thor dashed to the edge of the channel.  
  
"What have you done? Loki, what have you done?" Thor demanded, revulsion crawling along his skin as the kittens washed away.  
  
"It was a mercy," Loki said tonelessly, already drawing runes again. "They were weak, born early. Runts, abandoned by their mother. Pathetic. They would have died soon anyway."  
  
"A kindness," Thor said, forcing a smile. Lies. All lies. The kittens had belonged to Sigyn; she’d offered them to Thor and his friends only this morning. The little white one Fandral had already named Cloudkisser after it had clambered to the top shelf in the library. Thor reached for Loki, his grip a touch too tight on his brother’s arm. Loki smiled through his wince of pain. "Come. Mother would speak with you."  
  
"And then you’ll dine with me, right? You spend so much time with your friends," Loki chatted as they walked, their joined hands swinging between them, "I do wonder if it wouldn’t take some dreadful accident to break the five of you apart."  
  
A chill swept over him. “Of course not, Loki,” Thor said through teeth gritted into a smile. “We’ll dine together, yes. And after you can tell me about your latest spell.” Cheered, Loki spoke no more of accidents for the rest of the evening, and that night Thor dreamed of cats.


End file.
